Phalanx (Timeline B)
Phalanx is the only known survivor of an ancient civilization, known as the Guardians. His past is largely unknown, and his motives not always clear. It is known that he tends to fight whatever he views as unjust, and is a strong supporter of freedom in the galaxy. Due to injuries sustained at some point in his past, he can never leave his trademark power suit. Phalanx generally plays a side role in RPGs, but in the 4th Sith War (Alternate Timeline B), he was one of the founding members of the reborn Galactic Republic. Background Phalanx has declared himself the last survivor of an ancient race, the Guardians, in power around 50,000 BBY. How his race met its end is unclear, but it is speculated that the Guardians played some role in originally placing humans on the once-lush world of Tatooine. Phalanx was severely wounded sometime in the past. Like all his background, the circumstances of this injury are unknown. This incident has forced him to wear his power suit at all times. Involvement Phalanx, though presumably alive for at least 50,000 years prior, first surfaced several years before the Jedi Civil War. He was, at the time, a freelance mercenary, albeit one with a wide variety of eccentricities and unusual mechanical devices. During the war, he aided the Republic whenever he could, though in at least one alternate timeline he temporarily joined the True Sith, stating that his actions were designed to bring about the downfall of Malak's Sith Empire regardless of the cost. In this alternate timeline (designated by the letter "C") he was able to steal plans for a stealth fighter from the Empire, in the process destroying an orbital enemy factory. After this successful missions, Darth Zekkus sent him to Korriban with Mandalorian Chron Sorgo to link up with a True Sith agent named Banus, and destroy Korriban's Sith Academy. Phalanx was mercilessly effective in this task, killing all the inhabitants of the base with a nuclear barrage. His next notable appearance in the main timeline was almost four millennia later, immediately before the Clone Wars. He found a business partner by the name of Cob Blacket, and the two became partnered free-lance mercenaries. When war broke out, they were drawn into the middle of it, often working with Clone Commander Gray and generally aiding the Republic. It is likely, however, that during this time Phalanx conducted a variety of activities unknown to Cob. He seems to have been closely involved with Clone Commander Dak and his 144th Legion, and sometime within the first two years of the war, he was somehow able to convince the Republic to place the entire Legion into cryo-stasis until he needed it - which, as it turned out, was almost half a century later. Imperial Service After the war, the partners returned to business as usual. However, in 15 BBY, an attempt by Cob to withold money from Phalanx resulted in the two going separate ways. By 14 BBY, Phalanx was an officer in the Imperial Army. His Commanding Officer, Moff Koland, took a liking to him. In under a decade he made his way to High Colonel, the highest rank the Moff was authorized to grant. Phalanx was well on his way to an incredible military career. It is uncertain just when Phalanx joined the Rebellion, but he was spying for them by the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War. Both sides were impressed; he delivered victories to the Empire and invaluable intelligence to the Rebellion. After the collapse of the Empire, Phalanx continued to serve under Moff Koland, whose connections to Director Ysanne Isard proved quite valuable. He continued to discreetly provide the New Republic with intelligence right up until Koland was accidentally killed by his own flagship's turbolasers. The Colonel fell out of favor with Isard with this, but after her defeat, Grand Admiral Thrawn appeared and took a liking to the Colonel. Thrawn was viewed as different by the now 1-star General: whereas Palpatine had tried to rule for the sake of ruling, he felt that Thrawn could actually bring order to the galaxy. Nonetheless, Phalanx discreetly provided intelligence to the New Republic. Downfall After Thrawn's death, Phalanx continued to serve in the Army until 24 ABY, where he finally decided his use as a spy had been exhausted. He openly defected to the New Republic, where he requested and recieved a transfer to the Navy for a change of pace. Phalanx was heavily involved in the New Republic's battle against the rogue Durasteel, but things changed for him when he discovered a conspiracy within the ranks of the New Republic's upper echelons. He even discovered that the prominent Senator Duren, head of the conspiracy, had paid for the construction of Durasteel's flagship Vindicator. Phalanx was forced out of the Navy and sent out on his own. Luckily, he had an ace up his sleeve - in fact, two. The first was the 144th Legion of clone troopers, placed in cryo-stasis ever since the Clone Wars. The second was the custom-built torpedo cruiser Defiant, a vessel with average offensive firepower but nearly-indestructible energy shields. The 144th Legion, operating the ex-Admiral's Defiant, waited for Durasteel to make his move. When he attacked Coruscant with a fleet of Star Destroyers, the Defiant jumped in to defend the civilians. But Phalanx's rage at having been defamed by the conspirators resulted in him pursuing the Star Destroyers to the death. When Vindicator itself jumped in on the other side of the planet, the Defiant was too far away to do anything but watch as ten thousand died. What happened next is uncertain. Perhaps Phalanx thought he had defeated the conspirators, or perhaps he managed to reach an uneasy truce with them. Either way, he was offered his position back in the Navy; he declined, feeling the people of the galaxy could no longer trust in his abilities. Legend Phalanx went underground, but resurfaced in the Post-Legacy of the Force (alternate timeline A) era. He finally reclaimed his title and assisted in defeating the corrupt Galactic Alliance, in the process propelling himself to legendary status when he slammed his own ship, Defiant,'' into the third Death Star. But it was then that his old enemy, the aging former Senator Duren, resurfaced with a group of soldiers and battleships under his command. He successfully trapped Phalanx and was able to capture him. When Phalanx was rescued several weeks later, large portions of his power suit had been removed, and used to construct Duren's own version of the armor. It was then that an interesting discovery was made: Phalanx explained that his suit was integrated cybernetically into his body. Duren's "surgery" had therefore severely injured the Admiral, and he was beyond healing via conventional methods. Phalanx was, luckily, never one for convention. He found a Yuuzhan Vong who specialized in biotechnology (this stereotype-breaking Vong in fact embraced mechanical technology). He was able to combine Phalanx's mechanical suit with organic elements, capable of growing on their own. These parts grew until the suit was once again capable of acting as a life-support system, and the Admiral was saved. However, this encounter had left the power suit badly weakened. The suit would remain as such until much later at some point during the events of Odyssey (Alternate Timeline B), when Phalanx was able to bring his armor back to full capacity either through repairs or the discovery of Guardian artifacts in the Galactiol. Shadows In 58 ABY, at the start of the Shadows of the Force RPG, the Third Republic was locked in a fierce war with the Golden Empire under Darth Mallous. This culminated in the Battle of Denon, where the GE deployed more than 3/4 of its fleet and the Republic Navy - led by Phalanx - sent in almost everything it had. Both fleets were decimated by the battle, and Mallous' fleet was further crippled when a combined Imperial-Republic destroyed a number of damaged GE ships at the Andilos Nebula. After Denon, the Third Republic Navy was in shambles. The vast majority of its fleet was crippled or obliterated. In a desparate bid to get at least a few ships, the Admiral reactivated a number of Venator-class vessels. These pathetically outdated ships were refitted to serve as frontline cruisers, and the Venator Refit RSS ''Hornet became the Admiral's flagship during this time. As the Republic began to heal its wounds from the war, a new threat emerged - the return of the Rakata. Eventually, Phalanx would lead the Republic section of a combined Vindolian-Republic-Imperial task force into battle against them, before forging a hasty alliance with the Rakata in order to destroy a new threat, a mysterious sentient planet that had appeared from a wormhole. The destruction of this planet resulted in the re-opening of that wormhole, causing the Defiant, as well as approximately half a dozen other ships of both Republic and Imperial origin, to be drawn in. The fleet reappeared in an entirely different galaxy, the Galactiol. Unbeknownst to the others in the fleet, the Galactiol was in fact the place of origin for the Guardian civilization, as well as Phalanx's long-lost home. Brave New World The fleet's return trip is shrouded in mystery, but it was at the very least partially successful, as the Defiant, Phalanx and the 144th Legion had returned to the known galaxy by the 4th Sith War era (alternate timeline B), in 4128. By this point, Phalanx had fully repaired his suit, the clones were operating new and improved armor, and the stage was set for a shift in galactic power. The Admiral kept a low profile in the Imperial Navy during the actual 4th Sith War, but he eventually returned to the spotlight. At first, he and his troops worked to try and restore order and freedom to a fractured galaxy, but they were unsuccessful; a single ship could only do so much. Finally, he decided a larger step was needed. In 4128 ABY, Phalanx became a founding member of the Fourth Galactic Republic. He became the commander of its military, once again with the rank of Admiral. His unusual method of thinking things through resulted in the Republic surviving attack after attack after attack, and the young civilization emerged stronger as a result. However, his flagship was soon infiltrated by Feanor and a reborn Darth Acheron. In a last-ditch attempt to save the lives of his men, he plugged his power suit directly into the RAS Defiant's power grid. He was able to fire a devastating blast of energy and succeeded in forcing the two off of the ship, but in the process severely damaged his power suit once more. Fortunately, the life support functions weren't as badly damaged as they were after his encounter with Duren. The medics aboard Defiant were able to save his life. His suit's combat systems, however, didn't fare so well. His defensive systems were crippled, and his offensive systems were completely offline. Phalanx, persistent as ever, managed to patch up his suit using existing technology from within the galaxy. His current suit is not as powerful as the extra-galactic versions that preceded it, though as discussed below, it does have a few notable advantages over them. Leading the Fourth Republic to a decisive victory in the Confederacy-Republic War, the Admiral became in many ways the face of the young but strong nation. But in 4130 ABY, an apprentice of Darth Acheron (code-named "Q") was sent to the RSS Defiant. His objective: eliminate the Admiral. All Good Things... A fierce duel ensued. The weakened Mark V Power Suit didn't have the offensive weaponry to engage a Dark Jedi at range, so the Admiral was forced to use a pair of wrist-mounted energy blades to duel the Sith. Unfortunately, after quite a fight, Q buried Phalanx in a pile of rubble from a door destroyed during their battle. The Admiral's suit, as it turned out, had expended all of its energy on shielding its wearer from the pile of rubble. There wasn't even enough power remaining to move in the half-ton armor. The Sith-in-training let out a blast of force lightning at the trapped leader. However, the Admiral's suit was able to modify itself quickly enough to use the lightning as energy - unfortunately, though this restored movement to the armor, the move did not protect it from damage. The life-support system was crippled beyond repair. With this, Phalanx fled to the hangar. He dashed aboard a transport landed there, and Q followed. The Apprentice pursued the Admiral through the twists and turns of the ship, barely able to catch a glimpse of metallic armor as it rounded each corner. Finally, Q caught up with the figure; by the time he realized that the figure was, in fact, a clone, the Admiral had fired three MC25-A1 rounds into Q's skull from behind. What We Leave Behind The Admiral spent his last few hours finishing a mysterious project of his, in the process dismantling large portions of his own suit. The truth of this project was uncovered several weeks later, when the bridge of the RAS Defiant emerged from a wormhole. Aboard it was one of the twin culminations of Phalanx's life's work, the AI Athena, in a new suit of powered armor. The other culmination of his work appeared several days after this, in the form of the RAS Constellation, a ship using a "warp drive" instead of a hyperdrive. It is believed the Guardian civilization used this warp drive, and that Phalanx had been attempting to resurrect the technology since at least the Jedi Civil War. Strategy Phalanx, in all of his appearances, is an extremely dangerous opponent. His Power Suit has a variety of powerful offensive weaponry in most of its variants, and his defensive shielding ranges, depending on the variant, from powerful to invincible. However, weaknesses in the armor assure that no matter how powerful the Admiral is, there is always a way to defeat him. Mark I The original suit, classified later by him as the Mark I, was seen in the Koland and Pre-Vong eras and was moderately powerful. Defense was provided by a built-in shield generator not unlike that of a Republic Commando's, albeit more powerful. Offense was provided by an arm cannon built onto his suit's right forearm. The arm cannon fired standard blaster shots, but also posessed a limited capacity to launch ballistic weapons. It could be defeated in combat, but was particularly vulnerable to EMP weaponry. Mark II The suit seen in the post-LotF (timeline B) era, the Mark II, was much more powerful, owing to the many upgrades made over the years. The defensive system was the same but more powerful, and offense had been expanded to include wave, ice and plasma weapons, in addition to the more conventional blaster weapon. The ballistic capabilities were greatly improved. The superior shield system made the suit almost invincible; this is the suit variant worthy of level 100. His only weakness was EMP weaponry, and this vulnerability was much more prominent in this variant than in any other. Mark III The crippled power suit, seen towards the end of the post-LotF era (timeline B), the Mark III, was extremely weak. Offensive systems were limited to only his arm cannon's blaster, and defensive systems were perhaps at their weakest in this variant. However, due to the many biological components of this variant, the Mark III was almost unaffected by EMP weaponry. Many a foe learned this the hard way. Mark IV The Mark IV was seen in the 4th Sith (timeline B) era, and was the single most powerful version to date. Combat systems were at Mark II levels, and the defensive shields were even more effective. Ballistic capabilities were also at their highest point, with two power levels of ordnance. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the vulnerability to EMP weapons was greatly decreased compared to the Mark II. This was again worthy of level 100. Mark V The Mark V was created during the 4th Sith (timeline B) era in the same way as the Mark III, by severe damage to the power suit. It was very different from any previous variant, as the damage to the systems was so extreme that the arm cannon and shield generator were both obliterated. Rebuilt with intra-galactic technology, this variant had the weakest shields of any version, but with an entirely new ability - they recharged when not taking fire. Offensive systems, unlike any previous variant, were not built into the suit. Instead, Phalanx wielded an MC25 battle rifle and MC17 assault rifle. Finally, the vulnerability to EMP weapons was once again minimal. It is by now known that the Power Suit's life support system includes nanites, presumably to repair damage to the wearer on a cellular level. The Admiral often finds rather different applications for these nanites, though, such as defeating a Rakatan bioweapon by putting the nanites into the ventillation system. Quotes "Frak." "Get...off...my...SHIP!" Trivia Phalanx's suit in its many variants closely resembles, both in appearance and operation, the power suits of Samus Aran and the Master Chief. He is also known best by his rank, much like Spartan-117. The word "rip-off" comes to mind. Additionally, Phalanx was the first long-lasting character I created. As a result of my inexperience, Phalanx was based largely upon my own personality, with what is in retrospect an unpleasant degree of wish fulfillment thrown in. He also had a tendency to suddenly gain new powers whenever required. In short, he was the ultimate personification of a Mary Sue character. Killing him off was the best thing I did in the RPGs. - MetroidNut 20:52, March 14, 2011 (UTC) See also * Eras External links Category:Characters Category:Fourth Republic Category:Timeline B Category:Up-to-date Article